Stick a fork in it…the dining room is done!

 

Whew! You may remember waaayyy back when, I shared my sad dining room with y’all and with Debra’s readers at Common Ground.  I entered it in her Design Challenge and asked for help in making over my dining room.  It was a process with several steps that I’ve shared with you along the way…but I’m happy to announce with the installation of my new gorgeous hardwood floors this room is DONE! Okay as done as a room in a DIY bloggers home is every “really” done…but I think we’re going to let this one rest back on it’s laurels for the time being.

Here’s a before and after to remind you what we started with. 

Scroll your mouse over to see the dramatic difference!

And here’s a side by side Before and After for our email and RSS readers!

Before

After

Before

After

HUGE difference! Like HUGE!

I am in love with every detail.  It strikes the perfect balance in our home of cottage farmhouse with a touch of traditional.  I followed so many of the suggestions offered at the Design Challenge and appreciated so much all of the advise.

I started by painting the room with Copen Blue by Sherwin Williams and then added wainscoting around the entire room, foyer and and downstairs hallway…by myself I might add. ;)

I also added architectural elements to the room by framing out the doorway into the kitchen and adding stacked molding above the doorway…again by myself…can you tell I’m proud of the woodworking skills I’m learning?

I added a new light fixture by making a drumshade chandelier, you can learn how to make your own by reading my DIY Drumshade Chandelier Tutorial.

 

Above is a glimpse into the hallway as well as a sneak peek of my in progress staircase project (see no carpet!) and do you spy Bama Boy’s Christmas gift hanging on the wall? A prize (okay not really, but I’ll tell everyone how smart you are) to the first person who can guess what it is…or should I say “what it says” grin!  Also, if you follow us on Facebook you might recognize my awesome Goodwill find…a set of Restoration Hardware candlesticks that you can still currently buy in the store! I picked these up for $14 for the set, they retail for $150.00!

You can see my DIY framed chalkboard that I made sitting on a dresser we moved in from the living room.

It was the perfect spot for it and I love my Kirkland’s lamp as a nice contrast to the ornate frame.  You can also see the mirror that was previously in the dining room in it’s new coat of white.

The design element that seems to catch everyone’s eye when they walk in the door is my gallery wall.

I had always wanted to group my formal pictures together to really show them off and this provided the perfect place! Aren’t my babies so sweet up there…sigh…hard to believe that little boy will be 18 in a few weeks.  I added some additional elements to the wall to create variety, but all were things I already owned so this gallery wall ended up being virtually free to create!

I recovered the chairs in this pretty blue and brown damask that I found at Garden Ridge for $5 for two yards! I thought the fork, spoon and knife art added a bit of whimsy.  These types of elements keep a room from feeling stuffy and at $10 each on clearance, they were a bargain!

And last but not least, we come to the most resent addition to the room…my new floors.  Purchased for us by my sweet “in-loves” (they will never be “in-laws” to me), we laid these gorgeous solid hardwood floors ourselves with the help of our wonderful neighbor (the best one in the world, I might add) last weekend! I waited a full day to put my furniture back in just so I could sit and stare at them and I might have even laid down in the middle of the room for awhile to soak in their beauty! ;)

For now, we're leaving them bare.  Bama Boy emphatically stated that if we were going to spend that much on floors and work so hard to install them we were NOT covering them up with a rug....what can ya say to that? So for now we'll admire them in all their naked glory. hehe! 

 

I am so happy with how it all turned out! I really wanted to strike a balance between design and function, between formality and fun…I think I’ve achieved that.  And at the end of the day this room makes me happy….

….and that’s really what it’s all about.  Finding joy in what you can dream up, accomplish and create with your own two hands! Thanks for following along on my dining room transformation! 

Bama Boy asked me if we were done remodeling rooms now…heheh…silly boy, didn’t he notice the bathroom makeover going on….I’ll be sharing that next week! grin!

Thanks for joining me today….at the picket fence!

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